Reviews several books. "Her Majesty's Secret Service: The Making of the British Intelligence Community," by Christopher Andrew; "The Siege: The Saga of Israel and Zionism," by Conor Cruise O'Brien; "Alexander Pope: A Life," by Maynard Mack; "The Americans," by Robert Frank.

The article presents the author's discussions on the role played by intelligence in the U.S. history. He notes that the U.S. learned the importance of spying from the British who established intelligence gathering in 1909. He mentions that the National Security Agency (NSA) discovered the...